Helga Zepp-LaRouche Addresses German Engineers

September 18, 2009

Helga Zepp-LaRouche was a featured speaker at the 2009 Workshop of the German Association of Engineers for Building Inspection (BVPI), on Sept. 18, on the North Sea island of Sylt, with 250 attendees. She participated in a panel discussion on "The Lessons To Be Drawn from the Financial Crisis," together with the president of the Berlin Chamber of Engineers, Dr. Karstedt; the director of the Liberal Professions Association, Dr. Metzler; and Dr. Marnette, the former Economy and Transport Minister of Schleswig-Holstein.

Mr. Halbach of the television station ZDF, who was moderating the event, presented Zepp-LaRouche as the founder and president of the Schiller Institute and Chancellor candidate of the BüSo, and invited her to make the first opening statement. She stated that this is just not another financial crisis, but a complete breakdown crisis of the world economy. Although other panelists predictably attempted to downplay the problem, Zepp-LaRouche argued that no attempt has been made to examine the actual causes of the current crisis, and that the caste of established economists has shown how bankrupt they are. They turned a blind eye, in particular, to the dramatic breakdown of the real economy, which started well before 2007.

No solution is possible, Zepp-LaRouche insisted, without eliminating the toxic waste in the financial system. All those totally worthless financial securities must be written off, as any attempt to honor them can only prevent a healthy reconstruction policy, which depends entirely on investments in the real economy. She recalled the experience of the post-war period, when Germany produced an "economic miracle" that was the envy of the world, by using the instruments of the Bank for Reconstruction (KfW).

Zepp-LaRouche also brought up the situation in the United States, where citizens are revolting against the trillion-dollar bailouts of the banks, at the cost of taxpayers who are being asked to shoulder more and more austerity.

Halbach asked the BüSo Chancellor candidate about the investigative committee into the banking sector that she is calling for, which gave her a chance to explain in detail how efficiently the Pecora Commission had worked under Franklin Roosevelt. Towards the end of the discussion, she challenged the some 250 engineers in the room to think about how to save the precious industrial capacities of the auto industry, by converting them for the production of urgent projects both in infrastructure and industry.

Thank you for supporting the Schiller Institute. Your contributions enable us to publish, sponsor conferences, and support other activities which are critical interventions into the policy making and cultural life of the nation and the world.